Strengthening people literacy by using an art and culture-based approach to the public education action on Geopark Yanti Heriyawati (a), Kirana Kejora (b), Tukul Rameyo Adi (c), Sudiyanto Satjahdiningrat (d)
a) Director for Postgraduate Program, Institute of Indonesia Arts and Culture, Bandung
b) Founder of Elang Nuswantara Community
c) Executive Director for Barunastra Foundation
d) Chairperson of Pena Nusantara Community
Abstract
Public education represents a crucial element in geopark development, with the objective of fostering peoples literacy regarding to the significance of geoparks, encompassing geological, biological, and cultural values. Enhanced peoples geopark literacy results in heightened public awareness of the existence and distinctive characteristics of geoparks, facilitating a more nuanced comprehension of the geological processes, biodiversity, and cultural values inherent to geoparks.
The term of PEOPLE LITERACY ON GEOPARK is defined as the level of awareness and understanding of the interrelationship between society and geoparks. It is therefore anticipated that public education about geoparks will foster a sense of belonging and responsibility for the preservation of geoparks, while also encouraging community participation in the management and development of geoparks.
The application of an arts and culture approach to strengthen public literacy has been employed in numerous global initiatives, including the ocean literacy action within the framework of the IOC Ocean Decade of Science programme, with the objective of realising OUR OCEAN, OUR FUTURE, and climate literacy action based on a local community and indigenous people (LCIP) platform within the global climate change agenda. A comparable approach is employed in the 30 by 45 global conservation agenda through the Other Effective Area Based Conservation Measures (OECM) initiative with the objective of preserving the planet^s environment and biodiversity.
This paper proposes an arts and culture approach to be applied in public education actions, based on the findings of prior research and studies, particularly those related to maritime cultural literacy, as conducted by Indonesia Art and Culture Institute of Bandung (ISBI) with the support of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education between 2021 and 2023, and the writerpreneur program spearheaded by the Nusantara Eagle Community with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy since 2016. This approach draws inspiration from Indonesias situation as an archipelagic state that has a diversity of cultures, environments and resources.
This paper also examines the constraints and socio-ecological conditions that require attention and presents insights gleaned from the analysis to inform policy recommendations and public education programs on geoparks, with a particular focus on policies and programs tailored for islands region.
Keywords: Geopark Literacy, Art and Culture, Creative Economy, Writerpreneur, Geo-education, Archipelago
